Compensatory growth in tadpoles after transient salinity stress
Zoe E. Squires A B , Paul C. E. Bailey A , Richard D. Reina A and Bob B. B. M. Wong A CA School of Biological Sciences, Monash University, Vic. 3800, Australia.
B Present address: Department of Zoology, The University of Melbourne, Vic. 3000, Australia.
C Corresponding author. Email: bob.wong@sci.monash.edu.au
Marine and Freshwater Research 61(2) 219-222 https://doi.org/10.1071/MF09123
Submitted: 28 May 2009 Accepted: 6 August 2009 Published: 25 February 2010
Abstract
Many freshwater habitats worldwide are being degraded by an anthropogenic increase in salinity. Although salt concentrations are known to fluctuate with variable freshwater inflows, we know little about what effects this may have on freshwater organisms. Using a species of frog, Litoria ewingii, we measured tadpole growth both during and after salt stress to determine their capacity to compensate or recover from this stress. During exposure to ecologically relevant concentrations of salt (5%, 10% and 15% seawater), tadpoles grew slower and were significantly smaller than those in our freshwater control (0.4% seawater). Upon return to fresh water, previously salt-exposed tadpoles grew faster than those in the control group, and by the eighth day of the ‘recovery’ period, no longer differed significantly in size. The results of our study demonstrate a capacity for tadpoles to compensate for a period of environmental stress by temporarily increasing growth rate when the stress abates.
Additional keywords: anthropogenic disturbance, compensatory growth, ecotoxicology, tree frog.
Acknowledgements
We thank I. Stewart, G. Farrington, A. Svensson, S. Hamilton-Brown, M. Logan and Ozwater Gardens for logistic and technical support, as well as the editor and anonymous referees for helpful suggestions on the text. Funding was from Monash University (R.D.R.) and the Australian Research Council (B.B.M.W.). This study conformed to current Australian law and was conducted under Monash University animal ethics approval BSCI2004/10.
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